I'm kind of new to this stuff and I know its been discussed here and there but don't remember a PURE prog thread so might be fun to recommend me some stuff and discuss anything good!

Anyway a few bands I do like are King Crimson, Yes, Hawkwind, Camel, Genesis (early) and ESPECIALLY Rush though I'm no expert so I can't really name many songs. Also no LP player at uni so can't listen to any of this stuff here.

Anyway prog I am especially interested in for me is sort of 'Swords and sorcery' (like Hawkwind's divings into Elric), 'Evil' prog especially but any good prog is cool!

I've actually not listened to much metal this last week or so, and have been almost exclusively on a prog binge! Early Camel is one of my all time favourites, I guess, Mike that you are already familiar with the earlier Pink Floyd releases (Ummagumma to Meddle era)?

Some other albums I would recommend, though not exactly all to your specifications... don't worry though, no Dream Theater esque neo-prog shit!

Zero Hour - The Towers of Avarice (the only Zero Hour I am familiar with)
Emperor - Prometheus, The Discipline of Fire and Demise (pretty close to being prog in some ways)
Enslaved - The last several albums I guess fit the prog. criteria

Prog metal is not that bad actually. The only part I really dislike is the happier uplifting presentation in the vocals I guess. I suppose thats why I like Emperor's Prometheus so much, prog styled music however still with elements of harsher vox which typical prog bands tend to not use... that I'm aware of anyways._________________Bloodline Ascension Temple : https://soundcloud.com/bloodlineascensiontemple

Anyway prog I am especially interested in for me is sort of 'Swords and sorcery' (like Hawkwind's divings into Elric), 'Evil' prog especially but any good prog is cool!

classic Uriah Heep (especially Demons & Wizards and The Magicians Birthday albums) are great 70s rock with a fairly liberal dose of prog that often strays into lyrical themes along those lines. One of my favorite bands from that era. Other then that I'll be the first to recommend Magma. Strange band, great music. They have quite an extensive discography but the album Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh is a good place to start.

For newer stuff I'm a huge fan of The Flying Luttenbachers. They aren't traditional and classic prog by any stretch, rather more into the no-wave style and other then drumming have very little metal in their sound. A genre I admittingly don't know too much about but I enjoy their highly chaotic and instrumental only sound all the same. Infection and Decline is my favorite album of theirs and a solid introduction to their music (and ends with a Magma cover as well to tie things together here)._________________I was a brazen prince and cold, now a king on an oaken throne

Cheers, I figured you'd make a helpful contribution. Are there actually any good prog forums online as well where I can also find out more?

Heh heh, it's very dark waters y're heading towards there! Having worked 5 years in a record store, I can tell you the absolute lowest form of anti-social collector scum are the prog dudes. These guys seem to have been born middle age, and as someone else pointed out, totally snobby and humorless!
It's actually pretty funny when you get two in one place, and there's a whiny 'prog showdown,'. Seriously, if you think this sort of thing get's bad in metal, you've seen nothin!!

The problem with most prog rock is the very very high tolerance for flutey gayness. Luckily some groups avoid this. Definitely check out the High Tide 'Sea Shanties' album Nagawika mentioned, perhaps the darkest, heaviest thing that could still be called prog. Also Captain Beyond (first lp only!!) and earlier Wishbone Ash. And don't forget the first three Uriah Heeps, and some of the more proggy Kraut rock groups: Amod Duul II, Guru Guru, Necronomicon, Brainticket, etc. There's actually a lot of cool records you can find for fairly cheap, as long as you're patient._________________"Great holes secretley are digged where earth's pores ought to suffice, and things have learnt to walk that ought to crawl..."

A friend of mine pointed me to a band called Curved Air. Also Jethro Tull and Kansas are up there in my prog list. If you're into Cathedral check out the liner notes, there are usually a ton of prog bands mentioned._________________Only Lemmy is Real.